Distributing-machine



I 0. P. GREENWOOD.

DISTRIBUTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I9, 1912. RENEWED SEPT. 30. I919.

Patented May 11,1920.

3 SHEgTS-SHEET I.

'1 III 0. P. GREENWOOD.

' DISTRIBUTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19. 1912. RENEWED SEPT. 30, 1919- mm May ,1920.1

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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mT-aasses 0. P'. GREENWOOD. DISTRIBUTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, I912. RENEWED SEPT. 30, 1919.

Patented May 11, 1920.

fix 3 SHEETS-$ZEET 3- W W ,Z 0773122 1 Greezndood 2, a v v 4' /5 C 3 (Sfiram r UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER .P. G EENWOOD, or BILLERICA, ivras saorrusnrrs, iissrcrrron, 33%mass:

ASSIGNMENTS, r0 ALICE B. nova,

0F ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

DISTRIBUTING-MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER P. GREENWOOD, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Billerica, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Distributing-Machines, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawingsrepresenting like parts.

Tl1is invention relates to distributing machines, and more especially,though not exclusively, to machines for distributing fertilizer, limeand the like, and will be best understood by reference to the followingde scription, when taken in connection with the accompanyingillustration of one specific embodimentthereof, while its scope will bemore particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fertilizer distributerembodying my invention;

. F 2 is a detail plan section, partly broken awayon line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on line of Fig. 1, looking toward theleft;

Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in vertical section of the machine viewedfrom the side opposite to that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section on line 5-5-o=f Fig. fl-i, lookingtoward the right;

Fig. a detail side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 5;

l 7 is a front elevation of the machine, some of the parts being partlybroken. away, and others shown in section to more clearly illustrate thefeatures of the invention;

. Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view on line 8-Sof Fig. 7 looking towardthe left;

Fig. 9 is a detail plan'section on line 9-9 of Fig. .7, some of theparts being broken away; andv .HFigL IO is a detail elevation. of one ofthe pawlcarrying arms illustrating the graduatiofis and-numeralsthereon.

Referring tothe drawings, and to the embodiment of my invention which Ihave there shown for illustrative purposes, I have shown a cart whichmay be propelled in any desiredmanner, the one illustrated being of thehorse-drawn. type, having a frame 11 mountedton wheels 1%12, the lattersecured to an axle 13...journaled in suitable bearings 14: on the frameof the machine.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patinfd DIay 1 1, .a ifilication filed.September 19, 1912, Serial No. 721,331. Renewed September 30, 1919.Serial No. 327,474,

The machine may be provided with asuitable seat 15 for the driver, andmay be-provided with a shaft or shafts 16 for the horse or horses. v 1

Mounted on the frame 11 is a hopperl? for the fertilizer or othermaterial, which hopper may be of any. suitable construction, but hereinhas an outlet 18 at its upper portion. This opening may be closed bysuit able means, herein a cover 19 mounted upon a suitable hinge orhinges 20, so as to be capable of being swung from the position shown infull lines in Figstl-and 4 to the position shown in dotted linestherein, to facilitate the replenishing of the supply of fertilizer inthe hopper. 1

Suitable means are'provided for feeding the material from the upperportion of the hopper, and distributing the same upon the ground, andfor this purpose, I preferably employ a feeding and distributing roller21 located in the upper portion of the hopper, and suitably driven tothrow the fertilizer upwardly and laterally through a lateral opening 22leading from the rear. side of the hopper into a conduit 23, whichserves-to guide the fertilizer toward the ground and prevent the samefrom being blown about by the wind and strewnunevenly. The feeding anddistributing roller may be of any suitable construction, but herein isprovided with a large number of radial pins24, which serve to stir upthe fertilizer as well as to transfer the same at the proper rate offeed into the conduit 22, whence it falls by gravity and is distributedevenly upon the ground. 1 o

If cllsired, the feeding and distributing roller may be provided withone; or; more disks 25, for thepurpose of preventing the fertilizer fromshifting toward one end or the other of the row when the machine is on ahillside. Thesedisks maybe secured to the roller in any desired manneras-for e2r- 1 1 ample by being provided Withears -QG slipped down uponthe pins24 and secured to the latter by a set-screw 27.

The feeding and distributing roller my be driven by any suitable means,but I have 1 herein provided for that purpose suitable gearing driven bythe axle 13, Secured t0 the axle is a. driving sprocket wheel-.28, whichacts through a chain-29 to drive a driven sprocket .wl1ee1t30, apropertension of the chain being maintained by suitable means, herein atake-up roller 31 journaled on an adjustable bracket 32. The drivensprocket wheel 30 is secured to a gear 33, and both are j ournaled on astud 34 on the side of the hopper. The gear 33 drives the feeding anddistributing roller 21 through an idler gear 35, journaled on a stud 36,and a gear 37 secured to a shaft 38 of the roller.

Preferably the feeding and distributing roller is journaled andsupported upon the hopper cover 19, so that when the latter is opened,the roller will be carried therewith and will thus leave the upperportion of the hopper unobstructed. The sides of the hopper are providedwith suitable slots 39 to receive the shaft 38, and permit the latterto. be swung from its normal position when the cover is opened. It willnow be evident that the driving of the feeding and distributing rollermust be such that when the cover is opened as described,'the coopcratingdriving gears 35 and 37 may be readily unmeshed, and to that end, thegear 37 which is secured to the shaft 38, is preferably placed directlyabove the gear 35. When the cover is again closed, the gears 37 and 35may be readily meshed in an obvious manner. As a means for holding thecover down and normally maintaining the gears 37 and 35 in mesh, I mayprovide any suitable devices, but herein I employ a locking devicecomprising an adjustable slotted bar 38 normally engaging the shaft 38and secured by a clamp-screw 39*.

Since the fertilizer is to be fed from the upper portion of the hopper,it will be evident that there must be some means provided for feedingthe body of fertilizer upwardly to a point where it can be acted upon bythe feeding and distributing roller hereinbefore described. To this end,the hopper is provided with a stationary rear wall 40, stationary sidewalls 41, a vertically movable bottom 42, and a vertically movable frontwall 43, the latter being secured to the bottom, and suitable means areprovided for moving the bottom and front wall vertically to graduallyraise the body of the fertilizer. The vertically movable front wall maybe guided in any suitable manner,

the side walls 4 for that purpose being here- 1n. provided with ways orgrooves 44. In

. order to guard against possible sticking of the bottom 42 against therear wall 40, due

to swelling of the wood or for any other reason, I preferably providethe rear wall with suitable means of adjustment, herein an adjustingbolt 45 passing through the rear wall of the conduit 23 and providedwith nuts 46 and 47 engaging the inner and outer faces of said wall, andI also provide a bolt 48 secured at one end to the wall 40 and havingits other end adjustably secured to a cross member 49 of the frame bynuts 50 and 51. By the described mea th rear wall 40 may be adjustedtransversely of the path of the movable bottom 42, and a properclearance provided between 7 these parts, as shown at the lower portionof Fig. 4, so that the bottom of the hopper may rise and fall freely. 73

To feed the bottom of the hopper upwardly, I may provide any suitablemechanism, but herein I employ for this purpose a pair of racks 52-52,meshing with pinions 53-53 secured to a shaft 54 journaled in suitablebearings in the side walls 41 of the hopper. Secured to one end of thisshaft is a gear 55 meshing with a pinion 56 secured to a ratchet wheel57. This pinion and ratchet wheel are j ournaled on a stud 58 secured toan adjustable support 59 pivoted at 60 upon a bracket 61 on the frame11. The swinging support 59 may be provided with a handle 62 by means,of which the same may be swung toward the right from the position shownin Fig. 1, to withdraw the pinion 56 out of mesh with the gear 55. Theswinging support 59 may be secured in the desired position of adjustmentby a clamping screw 63. passing through a segmental slot 64 in saidsupport, and threaded into the bracket 61. For convenience ofmanipulation, this clamping screw may be provided with a suitable handle65.

Pivoted on the'stud 58 are two arms66 (36, constituting pawl carriers,each having a laterally projecting lug or box 67, in which is slidablymounted a pawl 68 held in engagement with the ratchet 57 by a spring 69.During the operation of the machine, these arms are advanced andretracted in alternation by suitable mechanism connected to the wheels12. Herein thereis secured to the axle 13 a driving gear 70 meshing witha driven gear 71 loosely mounted on a crank shaft 72 having a crank 73.This crank is provided with a crank pin 74, which is preferably radiallyadjustable, the crank 73 for that purpose being preferably provided witha plurality of threaded holes 75, 76 and 77, atvarying distances fromthe center of the crank shaft to receive the crank pin. In this way,different throws of the crank may be obtained.

The crank pin 74 is connected by pitmen or links 78-78 to the arms 66.68reaped tiveiy, and preferably in suci a manner as to be capable ofadjustment longitudinally of the latter. To this end, the arms 66--65are provided with sliding blocks 79, to which the links 78 are pivotedat 80, these blocks being adjustably secured to the arms in any suitablemanner, as by means of set-screws this means, the effective lengths'efadvanced and retracted in alternation, and their oppositely facing pawlsG8 operated in alternation will serve to impart to the 'atchet 57 aContinuous rotative movement in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 4:. Asa consequence, the mechanism just described will act through the pinion56, gear 55, and pinions 53 and racks 52 to gradually raise the bottomof the hopper. The rate of movement o'f'the bottom of the hopper, andthe consequent rate of feed of the fertilizer may be varied byappropriately adjusting the crank pin 74 and the blocks 79, suchadjustment of course causing a variation in thespeed of'rotation oftherat'chet Wheel 57, and constant variation in the movement of thebottom of the hopper.

To facilitate the adjustment of the ma chine so that it will feed anddistribute various predetermined amounts of fertilizer to the acre, thearms 66 may be suitably graduated, and provided with suitable numerz lsor other characters, indicating certain positions of adjustment of theadjustable blocks 79. Referring to Fig. 10, wherein I have shown theleft-hand arm in detail, it will be.

observed that the arm is provided with three rows of graduations andnumerals, the upper row having graduations numbered 1, 2 and 3, thesecond row having graduations numbered 4 to 16, inclusive, and the thirdrow numbered 17 to 35, inclusive. Assuming that the distribution is inpounds of fertilizer to the acre,to set the machine for any amount from400 to 1600, the sliding blocks '79 should be placed with their inneredges on the amount desired on their respective arms 66, and thecrank-pin Tet should be placed in the hole 76. For example, it H00pounds to an acre, the sliding blocks should he placed with their insideedges en the figure l-fi. For distributing 100 to 200, or 800 pounds peracre, the crank pin 7- should be placed in the hole 77 in the crank 73,and then the sliding blocks should be adjusted to the desired point, ason the numerals 1, 2 and 3, according to whether 100, 200, or 300 poundsper acre are'desired to be fed. For amounts exceeding 1600, thecrank-pin 74-. should be placed in the hole 7 5 and the sliding blocksshould be placed on the figures 18 for 1800 pounds, 19 for 1900 pounds,and so on according to the amount desired. Since different materialshave diflerent weights per quart, and the machine distributes thematerials by quart, it will of course be necessary in adjusting themachine to take into account such variations in weight, and this may bedone by the use of a simple formula which will enable the operator veryquickly and conveniently to determine the proper adjustment.

It will be evident that although the upward movement of the bottom ofthe hopper may be discontinued by the manual disconnection of the pinion56 'fromthegear 55, as hereinbefore described, it will be desirable toprovide some means for automatically interrupting the upward movement ofthe bottom of the hopper when it has reached acertain predeterminedposition. To this end, 'I may provide any suitable mecha nism to effectadisconnection betweenthe hopper bottom and the driving mechanism, but Iprefer to employ for this purpose the mechanism which I will nowdescribe.

Formed on, or secured to, the gear 71 is a clutch member 82, normallyout of driving engagement with a clutch member 83, secured to the crankshaft 72. The gear Tl. and clutch member 82 are loosely mounted on theshaft 72. Suitable means are provided for relatively actuating theclutch members, the gear 71 for this purpose being herein provided with'a hub 84 having a circumferential groove 85, which receives a clutchshifting yoke 86 mounted to slide in suitable guides 87 and 88.Suitableineans are provided constantly tending to throw the clutchmembers out of driving engagement, herein a spring 89 secured at one endto the guide 87, and at its other end to a collar 90 secured to theclutch shifting slide 86. The slide86 is connected by a link 91 to thelower end or a clutch shifting lever 92, pro-.

vided with a slot 93, which receives a pin 94: constituting a fulcrumfor said lever. This pin is mounted in a bracket 95, secured to a crossmember 96 of the frame. 'Now, it will be evident that, since the spring89 is normally tending to urge the clutch member out of engagement withthe clutch member some means must be provided for opposing such atendei'icy and acting to hold the clutch members in driving engagementuntil the moment when it desired to automatically disengage the clutch.To this end, the bracket may be provided with a segment 97 having twonotches 98 and 99, the former serving normally to receive and hold apin100 secured to the lever 92. In this way, the lever is locked, andconsequently the clutch members are held ininterengagement against thetension oi. the spring.

In order to provide for the automatic disengagement of the clutch whenthe hopper bottom has reached a certain predetermined point, suitablemeans may be provided for lifting the clutch shifting lever 92 until thepin 100 rises out of the notch 98, whereupon the spring 89 will startitself to shift the clutch member 82 out of engagement with. the clutchmember 83. To this end, I may provide a slide 101 having its upper endin the form of a hook 102 hooked over and resting upon the shaft 54 andinter posed between a pair of collars 103, the latter serving to holdthe slide against movement longitudinally of said shaft. The

through said link to lift the clutch shifting lever 92 and allow theupper end of the latter to be drawn toward the right, thus causing thedisengagement of the clutch.

. The slide 101 may be lifted at a predetermined point in the travel ofthe hopper bottom by any suitable means, but herein I employ for thatpurpose a laterally projecting lug or bracket 105, secured to the frontface of the front wall 43, and adapted to engage an abutment 106 on theslide 101, thus lifting the latter and shifting the clutch as described.When the clutch has thus been shifted, the pin 100 will drop into thenotch 99, and hold the clutch shifting lever against accidentalmovement. As a means for manually controlling the clutch, the clutchlever 92 may be provided with a grasping handle 107, which may beoperated in an obvious manner to effect the engagement and disengagementof the clutch.

Having thus specifically described the machine, I will now describe itsgeneral operation. The hopper bottom 42 is first placed in its lowermostposition, the hop per cover 19 and the distributing roller 21 are swungfrom the position shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 4 to the positionshown in dotted lines, and the hopper is then filled with the fertilizeror other material, which it is desired to distribute. The cover 19 isthen closed and the gear 37 engaged to the gear 35. The sliding blocks 79 and the crank pin 74 are then placed in their proper positions ofadjustment for the amount of fertilizer which it is desired todistribute to each acre of land. The clutch lever 92 is then moved tocause the enga e ment of the clutch members 82 and 83. The machine isthen drawn forward, whereupon the distributing roller 21 will at oncestart to rotate, thus gradually feeding the fertilizer from the hopperinto the conduit in the course indicated in a general way in Fig. 4,while the hopper bottom is gradually raised to continue to supplyfertilizer to the distributing roller in accordance with the demands ofthe latter. The bottom of the hopper is prevented from striking the onespecific embodiment of my invention for illustrative purposes, and havedisclosed and discussed in detail the construction and arrangementincidental to one specific application thereof, it is to be understoodthat the invention is limited neither to the mere details or relativearrangement of parts nor to the specific embodiment herein shown, butthat extensive deviations from the illustrated form or embodiment of theinvention may be made without departing from the principles thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire by LettersPatent to secure, is

1. An apparatus of the class described having, in combination, a hopperhaving a stationary wall and a relatively movable materials-feedingwall, means to move said movable wall along said stationary wall to feedthe materials, and means for adjusting said stationary wall transverselyof the path of said movable wall.

2. An apparatus of the class described having, in combination, a hopperhaving a stationary wall, a parallel movable wall and a movablematerial-moving wall, means to move said movable walls relatively tosaid stationary wall to feed the materials,

and means permitting adjustment of said stationary wall transversely ofthe path of said movable walls.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OLIVER P. GREENWOOD.

